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Shippers Council partners with AfCFTA to Enhance Trade, Economic Development (Voice of Nigeria)
The Nigerian Shippers Council, NSC, is partnering with the Africa Continental Free Trade Area, AfCFTA, for efficient trade and economic growth and development of Nigeria. The Executive Secretary, Nigerian Shippers Council, Akutah Pius Ukeyima who was on a courtesy visit to the Coordinator AfCFTA, Olusegun Awolowo said the current administration of President Bola Tinubu is focused on improving trade to develop the Country’s economy hence the reason for setting up of the Marine and Blue Economy ministry.
Mr Ukeyima said the AfCFTA is a platform needed to address the bottlenecks in the ports which have contributed to issues faced with intra-Trade and inter-trade among African countries.
The ES who highlighted some of the steps taken by the Council to address the bottlenecks said “Borders information centres were set up in some key areas to formalize trade activities that helped the country save 6 billion naira. Also Cargo Defense Fund helps stakeholders with claims and litigations they have in terms of missing containers and other issues.”
He said the Council is also promoting inland dry Ports and in six months another dry port will be commissioned in Borno state to facilitate trade and promote trade on the AfCFTA.
BFAP foresees continued pressure on agri producers until 2033 (Engineering News)
The Bureau for Food and Agricultural Policy’s (BFAP’s) latest baseline outlook report for 2024 to 2033 was influenced by the record number of elections held this year across the world, as well as sluggish world economic growth. BFAP senior economist Shannon Bold told delegates during the launch of the latest baseline report on August 14 that the world economy remained on a low growth trajectory this year and would likely remain so in 2025 as well.
Only a few countries are expected to achieve higher growth rates. India’s GDP is poised to grow by 7% this year and 6.5% next year, while China’s GDP is projected to grow by 5% this year and 4.5% next year – which is lower compared with historical growth rates but still positive.
Most risks to the global outlook this year and next year involve inflation, geopolitics and inappropriate macro policy – as a result of economic policy swings following all the elections. In turn, geopolitical tension can wreak havoc on oil prices and trade activity.
Bold said agriculture continued to contribute positively to economic growth in South Africa, with farmers and agriprocessors benefitting from fewer electricity disruptions this year, as well as lower diesel costs to power generators.
How Djibouti became region’s internet hub (The East African)
Djibouti’s status as the only country in Africa where China has an overseas military base appears to have brought other benefits. Massive Chinese ICT investment in Djibouti has helped the country become the region’s digital hub, overtaking economic powerhouses Ethiopia and Kenya. A new World Bank report cites a study by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) that shows Djibouti had the highest internet connectivity in the region at the end of last year, with 69 percent of the population online.
Djibouti, with a population of about 1.1 million, reported connectivity above the global average of 65 percent—and well ahead of Kenya’s 29 percent and Ethiopia’s 17 percent.
Much of Djibouti’s ICT infrastructure, the report notes, has been built by China. “China plays a key role in financing communications infrastructure in Djibouti, with Djibouti Telecom partnering with Chinese firms such as Huawei,” the World Bank report said. Huawei is at the forefront of some of the transformative technologies of the Fourth Industrial Revolution, such as 5G and artificial intelligence, both of which are proving critical in modern warfare.
The World Bank study, entitled “Leveraging Private Sector Investment in Digital Communications Infrastructure in Eastern Africa”, looked at 11 countries in Eastern Africa to assess their readiness to attract foreign investment. Djibouti, strategically located at the junction of the Red Sea, the Gulf of Eden and the Indian Ocean on the Europe-Asia maritime route, is becoming a “theatre of great power competition” between China and the United States, two of the most powerful nations.
AFDB, UNESCO launch value chain support development project in South Sudan (Radio Tamazuj)
The African Development Bank (AFDB), and United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) on Tuesday launched the support to Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) Project aimed at empowering the youth with technical skills to spur economic development.
Speaking during the launch at the University of Juba, Fauzi Haji, Officer in Charge of the AFDB Office in South Sudan, said the project aims to create an enabling environment for diversified and resilient economic development, reducing fragility, and instability with a priority on supporting agriculture, value chain development for economic diversification and resilience.
“We are committed to developing skills necessary for improving economic competitiveness, diversification, and job creation,” she stated. “Our support to skills prioritizes the development of demand-driven middle-level technical skills that promote high-value added economic activities and self-employment.”
SADC achievements and challenges presented to Council of Ministers (Southern African News Features)
The Southern African Development Community is steadily advancing its regional integration agenda but more needs to be done to ensure that member states honour their financial contributions. The Chairperson of the SADC Council of Ministers, Dr Frederick Shava noted that the 16 member states have made tangible progress in key areas such as disaster risk management where there has been a three-percent drop in malaria incidence across the region since 2022.
He called on member states to meet their financial commitments on time to ensure that the incremental gains across all sectors translate into transformative, region-wide progress.
It is estimated that less than half of regional projects are presently funded by SADC member states while the balance comes from International Cooperating Partners (ICPs). This situation has compromised the ownership and sustainability of regional programmes. To address the anomaly and ensure that member states take charge of their own destiny, the region is in the process of operationalising the SADC Regional Development Fund (RDF).
SADC Executive Secretary, Elias Magosi said the SADC Secretariat is working with the African Development Bank to identify options available to the region as it moves to operationalise the RDF.
The RDF aims to provide a window for financing regional infrastructure development, industrialisation initiatives and other regional integration projects. The initial authorised capital for the SADC RDF will be US$13 billion, with member states expected to hold a majority shareholding of 51 percent while 37 percent will be allocated to the private sector and 12 percent to ICPs.
7th SADC Summit: Public lecture by President Mnangagwa (The Herald)
After $300bn promise, what next for Africa’s exports to China? (African Business)
In 2021, at the eighth Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC), China pledged to import total African products worth $300bn over three years. This was not an overly ambitious target given that, based on Chinese import figures, Africa exported $275bn worth of goods to China between 2019 and 2021. Indeed, China has been Africa’s largest bilateral export destination since 2009. Nevertheless, it was still an important target because it was not only the first import target that China had set for Africa, it was also the first import target that had been set for Africa by any development partner.
A key reason for the target was to respond to African demands to reduce growing trade imbalances between Africa and China. To help reach the target, China also announced a range of supportive trade initiatives at FOCAC including $10bn worth of trade financing to boost African exports to China, “green lanes” to fast-track African agricultural exports to China, online shopping festivals to promote and sell African products in China and further increase the scope of African products enjoying zero-tariff treatment.
The good news for Africa is that this target is very likely to be met. Between January 2022 and June 2024, and again based on Chinese import figures, African countries have exported a total of $286bn worth of goods, meaning China has to import just an additional $14bn worth from Africa over the coming months to reach the target. From this perspective, the target has worked: it’s been a success.
Africa needs transparent and fair-trade practices for a just energy transition, said Antonio Pedro, Deputy Executive Secretary United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) at an African Consultative Webinar on Critical Energy Transition Minerals and the UN Global Framework on Just Energy Transitions in Addis Ababa Ethiopia. He said that Africa needs to create a competitive mineral resources development environment which “allows it to ride the crest of mineral prices because technological developments, including those that create substitutes, are developing fast.”
“Among other strategies to enhance the domestic footprint of the Critical Energy Transition Minerals (CETMs) sector, African countries need to curb the export of unfinished mineral products through value addition and beneficiation to reap rewards at the higher end of the mineral value chains,” said Mr. Pedro. The webinar was attended by officials and experts from governments, civil society and other stakeholders from the region.
Mr. Pedro noted the progress made by African countries to improve governance, but said challenges remain in many other areas such as taxation, value addition, and the strengthening of linkages. Furthermore, he said the exploitation of minerals poses multifaceted environmental, social and geopolitical challenges. “The abundance of cobalt, manganese, lithium, nickel, copper, graphite, and other minerals positions Africa as a key player in shaping the future of clean energy supply and, with it, global sustainable development,” said Mr. Pedro. “But, a just and fair exploitation will generate sustainable jobs, diversify economies, and dramatically boost revenues which, can support development and transformation.”
BCG roundtable panellists mull solutions to close Africa’s climate finance gap (Engineering News)
While investments in green sectors in Africa experienced significant growth from 2017 to 2022, despite volatility and macroeconomic risks, a substantial gap in climate financing remains, which must be addressed to accelerate the growth of these sectors, says Boston Consulting Group (BCG).
Despite contributing the least to the climate crisis, BCG warns that Africa will be the most negatively affected by the impacts of climate change.
Investment of $2.4-trillion is needed to meet Africa‘s climate needs by 2030, but only 12% of this funding has been met or committed thus far, posing a significant challenge that must be overcome to ensure a sustainable future for the continent, according to a report by BCG titled ’More Money, Fewer Problems: Closing Africa‘s Climate Finance Gap.’
With this in mind, BCG on August 14 hosted a roundtable discussion during which panellists discussed the findings from the report, as well as recommendations geared towards unlocking financing and investment flow into Africa‘s green sectors.
Closing the funding gap for trade finance and cross-border payments in Africa for DeFi (Business Insider Africa)
Africa faces significant challenges in trade finance and cross-border payments that hinder economic growth and development across the continent. The trade finance gap in Africa is estimated at over $80 billion annually, severely constraining the ability of businesses to engage in international trade. At the same time, cross-border payments remain slow, expensive, and often unreliable.
Decentralised finance (DeFi) presents a promising opportunity to address these issues by leveraging blockchain technology and cryptocurrencies to create more efficient, accessible, and cost-effective financial services. This is especially true when it comes to closing the funding gap for trade finance – as well as enabling a new generation of cross-border payments.
Traditional trade finance relies heavily on banks and other financial institutions to provide letters of credit, trade credit insurance, and other instruments that facilitate international trade. However, many African businesses, particularly small and medium enterprises (SMEs), struggle to access these services due to stringent collateral requirements, lack of credit history, and the perceived high risk of doing business in Africa. This results in a large portion of trade finance applications being rejected, leaving a massive funding gap.
Quick links
Ethiopia, Egypt And South Africa: Pursuing Relationships Within And Beyond BRICS (Eurasia Review)
Prospects for BRICS New Currency and New Payment System (Modern Diplomacy)
Pioneering Sustainable Lithium Production (Global Mining Review)
Key Sectors Can Drive Progress Across SDGs: UNGA Sustainability Week (SDG Knowledge Hub)
